


Nemophila

by girlofmars



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Non-Graphic Violence, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlofmars/pseuds/girlofmars
Summary: Giving Hyakkimaru the second chance at happiness and pure love he deserves.
Relationships: Hyakkimaru (Dororo)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

Dororo's recovery leads them back on the road to finish what they had started. Just before their departure, the nun who had been carefully tending to Dororo's fever stopped Hyakkimaru to place a string of prayer beads in his hand. "May these provide you and the little one safe passage on your journey," She warmly stated. With a stiff nod, he stored them in the lining of his kimono and turned to catch up with the bouncing child who had made a headstart down the grass-laden path. The old woman sighed to herself as she watched them grow smaller and further away. "I pray that boy will know happiness one day soon." 

Several days and nights passed in which they kept their ears out for demons, hunted for meals, and slept under the stars. Oftentimes, Dororo would wake before dawn, dragged from slumber by some terrible nightmare brought on by her past. Her tired eyes would fall upon Hyakkimaru's restless figure, sitting upright, staring into the distance. She rarely saw him close his eyes save for the times after long-winded fights that left him passed out from pain and exhaustion. It left her to wonder whether it was another one of the defects that came along with his missing body parts or aches of loss that never left him a moment of peace. 

A fortnight had gone by and Dororo's feeble body was nearly out of steam. She paused to lean on a mossy tree stump to catch her breath. "Aniki, we haven't seen a demon for miles. Can't we take a break for a while? Just a little... while..." Her fading voice alarmed Hyakkimaru and as he turned, her figure slumped over signifying that she had fainted. Fearing the worst considering she had only just escaped that hellish fever, he scooped her in his arms and darted forward to seek refuge once more. But his panic was cut short when he heard a yawn escape the bundle of limbs curled into his chest. Dororo blinked up at Hyakkimaru dazedly, "Aniki? I guess I fell asleep, ha- HA?!" Her tailbone hit the dirt with a loud thump as he dumped her there without a moment's notice. 

Some hours later in the midst of Dororo's incessant chatter, Hyakkimaru's steps falter until he reaches a complete stop causing her to waltz right into his back. "Aniki?" She rubs her forehead and peers up at him. His nostrils are flaring like a hound detecting a fox in the woods. 

Sweet and light. He recalls a similar scent from the flowers he encountered shortly after regaining his sense of smell. He liked it. 

Letting his nose be his guide, he continued up and over the hill ahead. A moderately sized inn came into view surrounded by a garden full of life and a small stone well. Shrouded in lilac robes was a person crouched over a patch of herbs. However, all Hyakkimaru could see was an aura that was not red nor white, but a pale blue that shocked his senses. As if it wasn't enough of a chore to process this novel addition to his horrendously limited vision, the flowery scent wafting from the source paired with their soft melodic humming had his mind running like a whipped horse. 

He didn't even notice a white orb of light come around the left side of the inn. Dororo beamed when she recognized the old man hobbling out into the afternoon sun. "Souryo-san!" She calls out and runs to greet him, alerting the pale blue being that new visitors have arrived. Biwamaru pats Dororo's head affectionately and chuckles before glancing at Hyakkimaru and following his line of sight. "Ah, my apologies. Here I am playing with weeds. What kind of host am I? Hello! Welcome to Kagumi Inn!" A feminine voice rings out as the woman rises, dusting off her kimono and fixing strands of hair from where they've stuck to her glistening forehead. Bright eyes meet Hyakkimaru's without a hint of fear or apprehension and a breeze picks up the floral essence of her skin to carry a final confirmation his way. Her smile stretched out the way sunflowers reach out to kiss the sky. "Haruka, don't bother wasting formalities on these strays. In a day or two, you'll come to resemble nobility next to them." Biwamaru scoffed, attempting to divert her attention from the hole Hyakkimaru was boring through her skull. 

Haruka. Spring... blossom? Spring fragrance? Whichever character was written for that name, it mattered not. For it was the prettiest he'd ever heard. 

Shielding her eyes from the sun, she squinted at the figure standing at the bottom of the hill that secluded her inn like a secret haven for weary travelers who meant to escape the chaos of war and class struggles. He appeared as though he were a spirit, some ronin who died in battle and wandered to her humble lodge on his way to the afterlife. Eyes like marbles, life barely shining through. And as her jaw fell lax, and the late spring made blades of grass dance around his feet, she decided he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Time, however, had not frozen still. Two curious bystanders lay witness to the oddly tranquil silence as Hyakkimaru and Haruka stood face to face. Dororo nudged the old man and whispered, "Souryo-san, why are Aniki and this Oneesan being strange?" This caused Biwamaru to chuckle, as he came to understand exactly what has come of this encounter, albeit surprising to him. "Why don't you go introduce yourselves to her and see if she needs a hand around the place?" Dororo doe eyes twinkled and she broke into a wide grin before bounding off toward the older girl who was finally distracted by a light tug on her kimono as a spritely child appeared at her side. 

Hyakkimaru began to inch closer upon hearing his name in a bundle of words flying off Dororo's tongue as she became acquainted with Haruka. He felt a twinge in his chest each time he heard the sound of her giggles as Dororo followed her inside. He didn't get to see the way she glanced back at him once more and gave his name a try with her own lips. 

Biwamaru catches Hyakkimaru holding a hand to his chest and gives him a sorrowful smile as he sidles up to him on his way toward the door. "It seems fate has brought you here and in turn, I'll help you out once more. It won't be like the last time, I promise." He remarks as he gives him a pat on the shoulder. 

The whisper of a faraway lullaby caresses his ears and he turns to find nothing, no one there. Not even her ghost. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lunch is prepared and served in no time at all, the lot of them gathered around the kitchen table to share a meal Dororo was especially excited for. As she shoveled rice by the mouthful, Haruka looked to Hyakkimaru across from her as she rested her chin in her hand. "So what's brought you to my humble abode? Looking to join the army?" She prodded and her two younger guests choked on their food instantaneously. 

"Ah, we're just traveling to um... uh..." Dororo struggled to muster up a solid cover story. Between bites, Biwamaru jumped in, "They're hunting demons like me."

Hyakkimaru spat his water and Dororo leaped from her chair. "How can you allow a man that handsome to fight demons?" Haruka inquired with furrowed brows and a look pointed toward Hyakkimaru. 

This time all three guests were sent into a fit of coughs. The old man nervously took the reins of the conversation once more, "Haruka, I think it's best you know that Hyakkimaru here isn't exactly _man_ per-say. You see," He moves to stand and rounds the table to remove one of Hyakkimaru's prosthetic arms, revealing the sword lying within, "Hyakkimaru's father was a cruel man who allowed his greed to supersede his love for his first-born. In turn, demons came and took him apart as a baby, leaving little more than bone and blood." He sheathed the arm back in place before returning to his seat. "So Hyakkimaru himself is almost as much demon as he is man. Each time he defeats a demon, he regains part of himself previously lost."

Haruka's eyes widened during this show-and-tell, mouth hanging open. The glint of his sword sent a shock of goosebumps beneath the sleeves of her kimono. After momentary stillness, she regains her courage and presses her torso over the length of the table to lean closer, staring Hyakkimaru in the face, noses close enough to brush. "Can you see me?" She asks quietly. 

Biwamaru blinks in surprise at her strange reaction. "For now he can only see the color of your soul to distinguish between good and bad energy."

Haruka searches those empty pupils for any sign of movement, a chance that he might really see her after all. Eventually, a touch of pink invades her cheeks and she's forced to look away, sitting back down. "Demons are quite handsome, it seems." She mutters under her breath.

Hyakkimaru hears this and even his face begins to redden. A sensation he's unaccustomed to. "Feeling hot." He murmurs, fleeing the scene without another word. 

Dororo and Biwamaru exchange a bout of laughter while Haruka moves to hide her blushing face among a pile of dishes she intends to clean.

Just outside the kitchen door, Hyakkimaru reaches for the warmth that has taken over his face curiously. "Handsome." He whispers to himself. 

—

Yet another newfound scent has guided Hyakkimaru's way from his room at the inn to the kitchen once more. There he finds Haruka's pale blue form. She's hunched over, spooning something carefully over freshly steamed _manju_.

"Food?" He asks, breaking her focus and causing her to fumble with her spoon and look to him with a sheepish smile before internally reminding herself he had not truly witnessed her act of clumsiness. 

Lifting the platter from the tabletop, she brings it closer to him. "I used the last of my pickled sakura from earlier in the season for the manju I just made. Try one!" She holds one up to his mouth and he blinks awkwardly at first but decides to move in and take a bite. The corners of Haruka's lips turn upward watching as his cheeks puff up like the squirrels that visit her garden while he chews. A myriad of flavors pirouette about his tongue, all reminiscent of the person who brought them together. Floral like the scent that drifts from her hair, warm and earthy like the hands she digs into the soil, with a hint of salt like the forwardness of her words in every conversation. 

"Well, how are they?" She cranes her neck after setting the rest down, unable to gauge his feelings from his expressionless facade. He takes a moment to pause and swallow. "Very good."

Clasping her hands together she hops in satisfaction. "I'm so glad to hear it. Feel free to eat as many as you'd like. I can always prepare more."

Dororo bounds through the entryway, beelining for the treats set out for all to enjoy. Through plump, stuffed cheeks she called out to Hyakkimaru, "Aniki, we should get going and look out for demons while the sun is still high!" 

He barely registered her words as she began to drag him out the door. "We'll be back for dinner, Oneesan!" 

Within the fraction of time it took Haruka to turn and say goodbye, they had vanished and she missed the slight wave Hyakkimaru sent her way. Resting against the countertop, she sighed and giggled to herself. "Did you hear that father? They're as good as you used to say they were." 

She smiles and walks over to the doorway, watching leaves cascade around her two new friends as they faded with each step, eyes lingering on Hyakkimaru for just a minute more.


	3. Chapter 3

Cicadas chirping and droplets gliding off the linens already hung to dry composed a gentle backdrop to Haruka and Dororo's afternoon of cleaning. A perfect rhythm set in between the two as they sorted through the day's laundry; Dororo wringing what was washed over the bucket of water from the well and Haruka tiptoeing to pin each piece of fabric on the line above her head.

"Oneesan, why aren't you married?" Dororo prompts the older girl, catching her off guard. Quickly she realigns her features into their usual carefree, unfurrowed setting and elicits a response. "I'm not from a particularly respectable household and I've not much to offer a husband other than my unrelenting stubbornness and far too careless tongue. And with my looks? It's a good thing I bestow all the love in my heart upon keeping this place in tip-top shape."

Her sad smile remains concealed behind a shroud of white cloth. Pulling the collar of her robe closer to her shoulders, feeling all too exposed by the child's question.

"But Oneesan is pretty and nice and makes the best food. Even Aniki thinks so!" Dororo exclaims from her spot on the other side of the wavering sheets. 

Haruka becomes flustered by the comment which causes her to struggle with a higher portion of the clothesline. 

A few feet away, Hyakkimaru and Biwamaru have returned from the town a few miles west of the inn with essentials Haruka was unable to grow or make herself after another failed attempt to locate more demons. 

The sight of that blue light he had grown fond of bouncing up and down ahead of him made his mouth twitch with the ghost of a smile. Biwamaru chuckles next to him, "Looks like someone's losing a fight with the wash over there. Time for a rescue mission."

He leaves Hyakkimaru's side in favor of some much-desired rest in his quarters while the younger boy tilts his head assessing the situation at hand until his heart dragged him the rest of the way to her. 

"Dororo it's not alright to put words in someone else's mou-" Haruka's voice dissipated as her shadow grew significantly taller and an arm reached out from just behind her ear to pluck the garment from her grasp, pinning it to the line with ease. The hand that passed along hers ever-so-briefly felt as smooth and cold as the stones that held up the well at the entrance of her home, but the body that hovered all too close to hers was as temperate as the sun on her back she longed for during the harsh, bitter winters. 

Turning to look over her shoulder, the breeze picked up and wound through them as if the earth was hellbent on capturing them in a hundred knotted threads. 

The floral aroma of Haruka's skin proved much more potent, making Hyakkimaru's nose wiggle with delight. "Flower scent." He whispered. 

"Ah... Ah! Yes, I use flower oils in both the laundry and my baths." She stutters after missing a beat while staring at the planes of his face. 

He blinks several times, processing the information she's given him, and then side-steps giving her room to breathe once more. "Oh."

"Aniki's back! Let's go have lunch inside with pretty Oneesan." Dororo peeks around the drying laundry with a mischievous grin before taking them each by the sleeve to share a meal.

Haruka takes her other hand to her face, thankful Hyakkimaru could not see the crimson kissing her from cheek to cheek. 

—

Pink haze dusted the atmosphere thanks to the setting sun that followed Hyakkimaru and Dororo back to their temporary home. Trout lay stacked within the basket swinging from Dororo's clutch. "We might not have caught any demons, but at least we've caught dinner, right Aniki?" He grunts in agreement and she skips further down the center of the unpaved road. 

Hyakkimaru's steps falter as his nose starts to quiver. Flowers. He may not have the gift of sight, but one dulled sense has led to a much keener one in its place. The distinctly saccharine scent beckons him to the blossoms to his left. Squatting to meet face to face with one, he breathes in and his chest swells with the fragrance of Haruka. He plucks a few blooms and catches up to Dororo. 

"Are those for Oneesan?" Dororo gasped excitedly. A low, contented hum escapes the swordsman.

Not long after, the inn comes back into view and Dororo darts ahead to Haruka sorting through bean sprouts on a mat in the front yard. "Look at all the fish we brought. We can feast like lords tonight, Oneesan!" She ruffles Dororo's hair affectionately while marveling at their catch. "You've outdone yourselves! Leave it in the kitchen and I'll get supper started while you wash up, little one." 

Waiting until Dororo was out of earshot, Hyakkimaru hesitantly ambled forward to the crumpled blue mass in his presence. "Hello there, stranger." Haruka lazily smiled up at him. 

A sleeve encased hand shoots out from where it was glued to his back, revealing the disarray of blue flowers he stopped for. Haruka's lashes flutter much like that causing a frenzy in the confines of her heart. "Are these for me?" 

"Flower fragrance. Haruka. Bath." Even in so few words, she understood what he intended to convey without an ounce of difficulty. Her smile only grew wider as she accepted the blooms and brought them to her nose. "Mm. Nemophilas are my favorite. The flower of prosperity. I'll use them well, thank you." 

Little did Hyakkimaru know, the shade of blue that graced the petals of nemophilas matched that of her aura perfectly. 


	4. Chapter 4

Akin to the way a stone well fills after a dozen spring rains, Haruka's home felt as though it found its purpose once more. In and out of every door used to be another guest bustling through, chortling between overzealous bites, jostling cups of wine while animating stories of their travels. They'd greet her like a daughter or younger sibling and bow to her father out of respect promptly after. A warmth that carried her through those days was brought back to her in the form of three new and dear friends. 

Hyakkimaru paused to peer over the shadows of Haruka and Dororo hunched over an indentation in the dirt by the garden. The elder girl held a pile of seeds in her palm and was recanting botanic knowledge for the sake of Dororo's welcome curiosity. He suddenly wished he could see the joy he heard in every word she spoke. 

With a determined heart, he turned back toward his mission, Biwamaru already halfway up the hill. Haruka caught him from her peripheral and almost sent the seeds in her hand flying across the yard. "Hyakkimaru, please wait!" She yelped while tripping upon an overgrown tree root. He gazed over his shoulder at her aura moving quickly from the garden to the kitchen and finally to where he stood in the sunlight. Her exasperated breaths made it difficult for her to speak as she placed a woven basket in his hands. "Onigiri. For you. They have umeboshi. Inside. _Phew_. Be safe." She doubled over to catch her breath, pressing the weight of her lungs into the ground. Hyakkimaru blinked a few times before his body reacted on its own, reaching up to smooth what he assumed was Haruka's hair. "Thank you." 

As he walked away, Haruka stood in that same uncomfortable position, frozen, eyes threatening to burst from her skull. Her face grew hotter by the second but she knew she had to get back to work. Peeling herself from her own flustered state, she slowly walked back over to Dororo, hoping her cheeks would cool by then. However, the garden was void of any human presence as Dororo had made a beeline to the kitchen for a much-needed afternoon snack. "Onee-san, your face looks like a persimmon. Oh, and we're out of rice!" She said with grains of rice stuck to her face in the doorway of the inn. Haruka made haste in covering her face with her apron and realized she'd have to go into town to restock. "It seems we'll have to take a short day trip then, little one." Dororo's smile stretched from ear to ear while Haruka wiped the stray rice from her mouth. 

—

"No demons today either, but at least we had a nice lunch, right?" Biwamaru patted his belly expecting Hyakkimaru's mood to lighten up, but his expression was still as glum. Dusk had covered every mile and another day passed without moving any closer to his goal. Another night he'd return and still only see orbs of light amongst darkness through his incapable eyes. He wondered if he'd ever see that wash of pale blue morph into what he imagined a smiling woman would be.

From the top of the hill, the inn was dimmer than usual and flashes of red paired with the sting of smoke and ash burned into him again. "Hyakkimaru!" The old man called after him as he dashed downward like lightning, already fearing the worst. Doors almost torn from their hinges, he burst in every room in a frenzy, but the two girls were gone without a trace. By the time he got to the kitchen, his feral screams left him tearing through everything in sight. 

Dororo skipped merrily up the path with a stick of dango waving in each of her tiny fists. Haruka followed behind with a large rucksack in one arm and a basket of other goods for their meals along with seeds to grow more herbs. Ahead, was Biwamaru struggling to rush toward the inn. "Oh, Souryo-san!" His body shook with relief at the sound and sight of Dororo with Haruka. A blood-curdling scream ripped through the night sky just then and Haruka felt her heart drop. "Come quickly! Let him see you're alive but don't get too close, he's unsta-" 

Not another syllable could be heard in Haruka's ringing ears as all her purchases crashed to the dirt and her feet took over, bounding toward her home in record time with panic steering her all the way. Pupils blown, the scene in front of her is that of a fever-induced nightmare. Hyakkmiaru growling like a beast, having split iron in two as if it were a loaf of bread. "Hy-Hyakki-m-maru." 

Pale blue. Flower petals fragrancing the air. That sweet, shaken voice. Was it real?

Gingerly, she stepped closer, over glass shards and spilled flour bags. He still looked more demon than man then, but she didn't care. Her hands came up to cup his cheeks, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm here. I'm safe. Dororo too. We're okay. We just needed rice and a few things from town. I'm sorry."

His pulse calmed almost instantly from her touch alone. Without another thought, he clung to her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Don't go. Not again. Must protect." He whispered into her hair. 

The shaking figure in her arms meant more by these simple words than Haruka would likely ever know, but they meant the world to her nonetheless. Chuckling through her cries, "Well, now we'll need a lot more than just rice since you've gone and wrecked my whole brigade of pots and things. So I'll have to go-" But she couldn't finish as he held her tighter and violently shook his head. 

Haruka's features softened and she began to caress his head. "I'm much stronger than you take me for, you know. My father was a lieutenant in the last emperor's military after all. He would let me grow as a flower without proper thorns." She shifted away and took his hands in hers. "Look, you've gone and made yourself bleed. Tch, who's the one who needs protection here? C'mon, let's get you cleaned up so we can start cleaning... all _this_ up." She gestures to the ruins of her kitchen and he looks to the floor as if embarrassed. 

Haruka starts to drag him out of the room when she spies Dororo and Biwamaru around the corner. "If you two wouldn't mind picking up what I left outside and getting started on dinner that'd be a lovely help. I'll take good care of him." Biwamaru smiles at her in admiration and puts an arm around Dororo to lead her out despite her stuttered protests. 

"Souryo-san, Onee-san is really strong. She stopped Aniki from being..." Dororo frowned at the thought of the only family she has left becoming a monster while she gathered what fell from Haruka's basket. Biwamaru stared at the inn, cicadas chirping in the distance. "I think they're bringing out new strengths in each other."


	5. Chapter 5

Iron scrapes against the bark of a birch tree as Hyakkimaru's target evades his sword. A hundred-eyed demon was lurking behind the torn shoji of an abandoned temple several miles away from the inn. They'd heard rumors of ghosts earlier that afternoon upon passing a group of merchants traveling to the next village beyond the river that divided the land between mountains. Two full moons had risen and fallen while Hyakkimaru's desperation grew much like the vines that cuckolded the stone well decorating the grass that greeted him each morning at the inn's front yard. 

Clambering amidst the wood, the cowardly demon let out a raucous cry each time Hyakkimaru's sword lashed out and quickened his pace. Met with the wall of a cliffside, its beastly proportions left it no choice but to take an offensive stance. Hyakkimaru swoops in, poised to attack when the demon rakes a claw through his chest. 

Hyakkimaru falls, howling in pain as his sword lodges straight through the demon's torso, leaving it to become dust in the wind. 

Searing agony bores through his skull like an army's collective of flaming arrows cascaded through the air, targeting his orbital cavity. 

Everything turns to white just as consciousness escapes him.

—

"Haruka, a bit of help if you will!" Biwamaru calls out. Haruka wipes her hands on her apron and approaches the open doorway, hands flying up to shield her gasp. Worn leather cuts through the stony pathway and she's met with a bloodied, unmoving shell of a man barely held up in the grasp of the old man. Slinging Hyakkimaru's arm around her shoulder, she pulls his body into hers. "Is he- Will he-" She stutters while focusing on getting him inside. "The wound is shallow, but it's likely he's gaining back a part of himself and that's what took the wind out of him." 

"Aniki! What happened to Aniki?!" Dororo's eyes well up causing Haruka to quickly assume responsibility. "He got in a tough fight and went right to sleep, little one. Just a few scratches that I'll get cleaned up in no time, alright?" She says, feigning a convincing smile.

"But... Onee-san... Aniki is a man. You're going to bathe him?" Dororo's question catches Haruka off-guard but she manages to control the warmth bubbling under her skin well enough. 

"When my father was sick I'd have to bathe him quite a bit. And with all the drunken loons who've run around this place, this is nothing I haven't already seen. I'll be gentle, I promise." She reassures her younger companion with a light tap on the nose and continues on through the hallway toward her room.

"No wonder Onee-san isn't married... Ouch!" Dororo yelps as Biwamaru pulls her ear in reprehension.

—

Floral fumes pervade the room and steam dances along the waters of the wooden tub where Haruka has carried Hyakkimaru's worn bones. A poultice of herbs lies nestled in the wound upon his chest and after scrubbing away the dirt and debris from his skin, he somehow appears a fraction more human. Haruka hums while combing through the tangles in the swordsman's dark tresses. 

A yawn stretches over her mouth and it dawns on her how late in the night it must already be. With his room being on the opposite side of the inn, she can't picture herself being capable of carrying him the whole way on her own. 

Albeit inappropriate for a man and woman to sleep in the same quarters for the night, she recalls his inability to see. 

Haruka lifts his figure from the tub, nimbly dressing him in her father's old sleeping robes. She sets him down on her mat and covers him with a quilt. 

Knowing she needs to change into her own sleeping garments, she waves a hand over his eyes to be entirely sure he's both asleep and incapable of witnessing her undress.

With a slight exhale, she momentarily sits back on her knees. "Look it's not as if I'm all that modest and proper. But if you saw me like this... even you would think I'm the monster between the two of us." She whispers almost to herself. 

Rising from the floor she shuffles to her wardrobe and pulls out the cloths, taking one last glance in Hyakkimaru's direction, biting her lip in apprehension. 

Turning away, her fingers shake as she brings them to the front tie of her kimono. Once the ribbon is undone, cautiously her hands ghost the nape of her neck and slide the fabric down her shoulders. "A flower with torn petals is hardly a flower at all." Haruka's hushed words are signed with a tear that trails the slopes of her cheeks. 

A sharp inhale follows when the scar tissue that paints her spine is met with the brush of fingertips. "Who did this?" Hyakkimaru's groggy voice is barely audible when paired with the thrumming of Haruka's heartbeat in her ears. What started as a slight trickle of rain swiftly transforms into a tempest in her eyes. 

He can see. 

Hyakkimaru can see.

Under the nose of her own logic, Haruka spins around and seizes Hyakkimaru's face in her hands, brows knotted together, gazing deeply into those once-vacant pupils of his. "You- can you... see me?" She queries shakily. 

Orbs of chestnut-colored glass rake over each feature on Haruka's face. After a few blinks, he mimics her position by cupping her cheeks in his much more tattered palms. He nods, "Flowers are this beautiful."

Haruka's irises glisten as streams pour out and she lunges forward, arms winding around Hyakkimaru's neck. He welcomes the embrace and follows the trail of pink cutting through her back affectionately.

She jerks away and moves to yank the robes into place, unable to meet his stare. 

He carefully grabs her wrist. "Who did it?"

Bewilderment removes the color from her complexion almost entirely. But the sincerity in him, she could see it so clearly now. 

"Everyone either respected or feared my father even when he was ill and dying. All the men that came and went greeted me as though I was their little sister or daughter. I was never interested in courtship really... I simply wanted to take care of the inn and those who fluttered about it. This one soldier though, whenever he'd stay he'd insist on pestering me with questions or unwarranted bragging about his war triumphs. One night, I was in my room and he called for me, banging at the door like a wild hog. The stench of liquor when I opened it was unbearable and there he stood asking why I wouldn't marry him at some ungodly hour. So I shooed him away saying it was late and not the time for discussions, shutting the door and turning to head back to bed," She shivers and her eyes shift to the floor, "Before I could take a single step, the door flew open and... his sword... he... I don't know how long I remained on the floor wailing and bleeding but all he said before disappearing was that no one would ever marry me now. And sure enough, he was right. Who'd love a girl with a scar such as this."

A thumb juts out to catch a droplet on her chin. Through her lashes, she caught the rage and sorrow fighting for dominance in Hyakkimaru's expression. "No more rain. Only sunshine." He states, bringing her closer by the chin so he can press their foreheads together. 

—

"Aniki. Onee-san. Aniki! Onee-san!" 

Haruka groans sleepily and snuggles closer to the giant pillow beside her. Except that same pillow is holding her just as tightly. 

Eyes barely open, she wriggles in Hyakkimaru's clutches and finds him ogling her with half-lidded eyes himself. 

A minute goes by until she notices Dororo standing at the foot of the sleeping mat and it hits Haruka like a ton of bricks what a compromising position this is.

Sitting upright like a stalk of wheat, she sheepishly rubs at the back of her back. "Dororo aha, good morning! You see, I was so tired after tending to Hyakkimaru's wounds and he was too heavy to carry and I-" 

Dororo doubles over cackling with delight at the older girl's scrambling to find every excuse in the book. "Ah, Onee-san it's okay if you love Aniki and want to hug him all night. Please get married and become my official sister! That way I can eat your manju forever!" 

Haruka and Hyakkimaru look to each other and blink before Haruka bursts into giggles herself. Arms snake around Haruka's waist from behind and Hyakkimaru rests his chin in the crook of her shoulder, causing her to blush furiously. "Hey what are you d-" Haruka's protests are cut short when he drags her to the floor, determined to go back to sleep.

"Hey, you can love Onee-san all you want later! I need breakfast!" Dororo whines. 

More giggling ensues and Hyakkimaru plants a kiss on Haruka's earlobe. She repositions herself to face him, noses brushing in close proximity, aiming to pepper kisses all over his cheeks. 

Dororo's voice trails out of the room, "I think I've lost my appetite."

Catching her hand in his, he brings her knuckles to his lips and kisses them one by one. 

"What did you see when you used to look at me?"

Reaching over to the vase by her bedside, he places something in her hair.

She takes it and turns it over and over in her hands curiously. "A nemophila?"

"Color."

"Blue?"

He nods, "Just you."

"This is the flower you gave me last week. How did you even..." Somehow when the world felt at its most still, its orbit reigniting and gave way to a new beginning.

Haruka tucks the flower behind his ear, letting her touch linger on his jawline. "I said they represented victory but I never told you their other meaning."

"What?"

"To love." 

And just like the flowers offer their petals to the sun, beckoning its glowing rays down to Earth hoping to claim a bit of its enrapturing warmth, their lips did the same.


End file.
